


Childhood Friends (unfinished lams draft)

by orphan_account



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: i gotta post something man
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Childhood Friends (unfinished lams draft)

**Author's Note:**

> this is an unfinished one shot that I probably won’t finish!!

"Peter, why do we have to move here? Why can't we move into the big city that mama talked about?" Alexander asked. He stared out the window at the town that came into view and at the pretty houses.

"Because I don't like the city," Peter said. He sounded more annoyed than anything, and isn't respond with anything else but that.

"It's gonna be too quiet here," Alex complained, flinching when James hit him lightly.  
"Stop talking," James mumbled. "It's annoying."

Alex just rolled his eyes and leaned on his hand, then continuing to watch the houses that they passed. The rest of the car ride was quiet apart from the soft music coming fro mute radio. Alexander found himself to be extremely bored, but he knew that they were almost there and he'd have the opportunity to look around.

"You two are going to have to share a room, alright?" Peter asked, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

James and Alexander looked at each other before James responded. "As long as we don't have to share a bed like we did at home. Alex hogged the blankets," he complained.

Alex gasped. "Did not!"

"It didn't even get cold there, so I don't get why you had to have two blankets," James continued. "We could have each had a blanket, but noooo."

"It was comfortable, okay? I like to be comfortable to fall asleep."

"You barely even slept." James huffed. "You sleep better in the car than the bed."

Peter waved his hand. "Quit arguing, you two. You might have to share a bed, but I don't know yet. We'll see, alright?" he asked, tired of the two arguing. If they weren't sleeping, they were arguing with each other about something unimportant.

Alex crossed his arms and huffed. "Fine."

"Fine!" James turned away. "Hmph."

~~~

"Come on, get your things out the back," Peter said, opening the trunk of the car and waiting for James and Alexander to get their things before getting his own bag and then closing the trunk. "Remember, there's other people that live in this complex, so you don't get to just run around and do whatever you want whenever you want.

Alex simply nodded, hugging his stuffed animal. James and Peter told him he was too old for stuffed animals, but he still kept his favorite stuffed lion since his mother had given it to him for his birthday one year.

James nodded as well, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

Peter pat his head and then went inside the building, the brothers following after him. They stayed quiet, for once.

Peter got out his keys and unlocked the door to the apartment and went inside, closing the door after James and Alexander came inside.

It was a comfortable looking space, but it didn't have much in it. There was a beaten up couch in the middle of the room. When they went into the kitchen area, there were a few dishes there. The two bedrooms had a bed frame, but no mattresses or sheets. The bathroom didn't have any toiletries in it.

"Okay," Peter said, clapping his hands together. "You two get the bigger room since there's two of you, obviously. I'll take the other one. Then.." He paused and thought. "Then I'll take you two to the park after you get unpacked. James, you're old enough to take care of Alexander by yourself. I'll have to leave you two alone for a bit to go to the store, is that okay?"

James and Alexander nodded, though Alex seemed to be lost in thought instead of paying attention.

"Alright. Go get unpacked real quick, then we'll go." Peter offered them a forced smile, then went into his own room and closed the door.

James opened the door to the room that he and Alex were going to be sharing, looking around. "Ugh...the walls are pink," he complained.

Alexander walked in and set his bag on the floor. There was a dresser already there, probably left by the previous owners. "We could paint it," he suggested, opening the dresser and putting his clothes in.

"Mhm. I'll ask Peter later. What color do you want?" James asked, beginning to put his clothes away as well.

"Mm...how about green?" 

"No, no, not green. Blue!"

Alexander blinked, pondering it for a moment, then nodding. "Blue. I like blue."

James smiled and took out a small picture from his bag, setting it on top of the dresser. It was originally a picture of the whole family, but their mother had ripped out James Sr's from the photo so it was just her and the boys.

After a bit, they had their clothes folded and in the dresser, and the rest of their stuff set up on her dresser or still in their bags. "Are you two ready?" Peter asked, poking his head into the room.

Alexander nodded.

"We were just about to go get you," James said, taking Alexander's hand and walking to the front door with Peter.

"Okay, I'll take you guys to the park. Don't talk to any strangers, alright? I don't want you two getting kidnapped or anything," Peter said, opening the door and walking out, leaving the two boys following him. Alex closed the door on his way out.

"Okay! We won't, right Lex?" James looked at Alexander, who smiled and nodded.

"Right."

Peter nodded and walked them to a nearby park that he saw when he was driving them to the apartment complex. There were a few couples and their kids there, playing on the monkey bars and slide and whatnot.

"I'll see you two in a bit," Peter said. "Don't leave the park, don't talk to any strange looking adults, don't get into trouble, you got that?"

They both nodded.

"Alright. Bye." Peter walked away from James and Alexander, who watched him go before they looked at each other.

"What do you want to do?" James asked Alex, still holding his hand. He couldn't help but feel anxious since he had to take care of his clumsy and curious little brother all on his own. He felt protective, almost.

Alexander looked around the park. "Um..." He pointed to the swings. "That one. There's no there right now."

James nodded and lead Alex over to the swings and Alex sat down on the swing. "Do you need me to push you?" James asked.

Alex shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I can do it myself."

"If you say so." James sat down on the swing next to Alex's and they both began to swing, looking around the park at the other kids.

They didn't say anything to each other, just swinging in silence until a boy around Alexander's age and a young girl, presumably the boy's younger sister, came over and the boy helped her into the swing and began to push her.

Alex watched them until the boy looked over at him and he quickly looked down.  
"Hey bubba," the girl asked the boy, who stopped pushing and looked at her.

"What?"

"What's wrong with that boy's face?" she asked, pointing to James. His face had been cut up and he had a piece of metal fly at his face during the hurricane, so he had nasty scars on his face.

James looked down, obviously upset. Alex got off of his swing and went over to James, hugging him gently, listening to the boy scold his sister.

"Don't listen to her," Alex mumbled. "I like your scars. They make you look like you were in an epic battle or something and you won. Now you have scars to tell the story." He smiled.

James looked at Alex. "They make me look ugly."

Alex shook his head. "No, no, no, you're not ugly. I promise. You're very pretty."  
James smiled a little. "I guess..."

The boy came over, holding the girl's hand, and tapped James's shoulder. "Tell him you're sorry, Martha."

The girl looked up at James, looking slightly scared. "I'm s-sorry, mister."

James looked at her, causing her to jump and hide behind her brother. Her brother rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I'm real sorry about her. She was being judge and rude."

"It's okay.." James looked at the boy. Alex watched them, staying silent. The boy in front of him had blonde hair that was slightly wavy and was in a small ponytail. His eyes were a very pretty blue. He wore a pair of shorts and a blue t-shirt. He also had bandaids on his knees and elbows.

"My name is John," the boy said and smiled. He had a southern accent, which was to be expected since they were in the south. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry we had a bad first impression."

James sat up straight, gripping the chains of the swing. Alex stood next to him quietly. "I'm James. This is my brother, Alex."

Alex simply waved shyly, stepping behind James.

John smiled and waved back at Alexander. "Um, this is my sister Martha. Again, I'm sorry for what she said. That was very rude of her." He looked down at Martha, who stared back up at him with wide eyes.

"Teach your sister some manners," James muttered.

John's smile faltered. "R-right," he said, slightly intimidated by the older boy. "Here, um, I'll take her back to my mom, then we can talk, yeah?"

James simply shrugged and watched John walk away with his sister, who glanced back and then quickly walked with John.

"I like the boy better than his sister," Alex said and sat back down on his swing.

"He was very polite." James nodded. "He shouldn't apologize for his sister's actions. You got that? Don't make me apologize whenever you do something bad. That's not cool."

Alex nodded. "I won't. Promise."

James smiled slightly, then watched John run back over and sit in the third swing, next to Alexander, so Alex was in the middle.

"So sorry again for her. She's probably gonna to pitch a hissy fit since I'm not playing with her," John said, kicking the wood chips. "Where are you guys from? I haven't seen you before and y'all don't sound southern."

"We just moved here," James said. "We're from the Caribbean."

John gasped. "Woah, really? That's so cool! I've always wanted to go there."

Alex and James looked at each other. "It's okay," Alex said quietly. 

James nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't anything special. We lived in a small town, like this one, but the vendors were mostly nice. They'd let us get away with stealing sometimes since they knew our mom."

John arched an eyebrow. "You stole?"

Alex gave James a look, who just shrugged. "Yeah. You gotta to do what you have to do to survive. We were poor."

John slowly nodded. "Ah...okay.."

James and Alexander looked at each other, before looking at John. "Do you come here often?" Alex asked, wanting to change the subject off of them.

John nodded. "Yeah. My sister really likes it here and my mom likes to get out of the house when my dad is at work. We take walks a lot."

James nodded. "I like walks. I like looking at houses." He looked up when Peter tapped his shoulder and smiled. "Oh, hi! That was quick."

Peter laughed. "Yeah. I just needed to get a few things for myself. Do you guys want to go to the mattress store and find something?" he asked. John watched Peter, frowning a bit when he noticed a pack of beer in Peter's hand.

Alexander nodded and the boys got up from the swings.

John waved. "Bye! See you around?"

"Bye, John," Alex said and smiled, taking James's hand in his own and walking with them onto the sidewalk.

~~~

"Shite." Peter sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I don't have enough money to get you each a separate mattress." Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "You'll have to share a bed for now. If I save up when I get a job, I'm sure we can get you two separate mattresses. Does that sound good?"

Alex nodded and looked down, disappointed. James crossed his arms, very obviously disappointed as well.

"Don't give me those looks. I just have to save up some money, alright? It'll happen eventually. For opine, you two choose one you both like," he said, then looked at the man, who waited patiently for them to make their decision. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir."

The man shook his head and began talking to Peter as the boys walked around the store, sitting on the mattresses and feeling them to see if they liked them or not.

"I like this one," Alex said, sitting down on one and letting himself fall back. James sat down next to Alexander, then lied down next to him. 

"It's good enough. As long as you'll actually sleep," James teased.

"Shut up. I'll fall asleep." Alex sat up, grabbing James's hand. "Come on, let's go tell Peter."

James nodded and they went back over to Peter, telling him that they found one they liked and leading him over to it.

"I think we can do that one. What do you say?" Peter looked at the man.

The man nodded. "Can do. Need help getting it to your car?"

Peter nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. What do you boys say?"

"Thank you," James and Alexander said in unison.

Peter smiled and helped the man get the mattress out and into the car and James and Alexander sat up front in one seat, shifting around uncomfortably and bickering with each other while James drove them home. They argued about what music to play until Peter just decided to put on a CD he had in the car, telling them if they kept arguing, then there wouldn't be any music whatsoever, so they stopped.

When they got back to the apartment, the three of them brought the mattress inside and to the room where the boys were staying in, and put it on the bed frame. Then, Peter put the sheet on and left them to get a drink.

James finished making the bed while Alex sat on the floor and read a book. James smiled softly, pat his head, then left the room and went into the kitchen, where Peter was leaning on the wall and drinking a beer.

James nervously played with his sleeves, stepping into the kitchen. Peter looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. "Hm?"

"What are we having for dinner? I'm getting hungry," James asked.

"Macaroni. I got some at the store. Boil some water, would you?" Peter asked, pushing himself off of the wall and grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the table. "I'll get more food tomorrow at the store."

James nodded, grabbing a pot and filling it with water. "Alex and I can make a grocery list," he suggested. 

"That would be great. I'll be back." Peter opened the door and left the apartment, leaving James in silence. He set the pot on the stove and turned the stove on.

James leaned against the sink and let out a long sigh. He was glad to have someone to stay with, but he would have much rather stayed with Alex's friend, Edward and his father than be with Peter. They had been staying with them for a while until Peter took them in and they moved to South Carolina. Peter was a bit much sometimes. 

He'd get episodes and lock himself in his room, muttering to himself over something, and James remembered when he was younger, his mother telling him that cousin Peter tried to kill himself and was being nursed back to health.

James was afraid that Peter would off himself when Alex and him were staying with him because the stress of having a ten year old and fourteen year old boy would be too much on him, even though he was a grown adult.

If Peter dies then we're going to be alone.

James bit his lip and looked down. He couldn't help but feel nervous about it all.  
He looked up in surprise when the boiling water began to pour out of the pot. "Shite, shite, shite..." He turned the temperature down and wen to the table, getting out a box of macaroni and putting the noodles in.

James sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, nervously pacing around the kitchen.

Alexander, however, was sitting on the floor reading a book the Edward had given to him. It was about a boy and an abused dog he was hiding from his family and his abusive owner. It was called Shiloh. Alex couldn't read too well, since he hadn't been to school and had just been taught by Edward and Thomas in the short time that he lived with them. 

"I wanna go to school," he mumbled to himself, flipping the page. Although he was slow at reading and didn't know everything, he was still a fast learner when he was learning it. He liked to read and write what he could.

He was particularly proud of a small notebook he kept in his bag with the alphabet written in it and some basic journal entries he had written. He was proud of what he could do.

Alex rolled over onto his back and held the book with his arms stretched out. He squinted to read the words, sighing and bringing it closer to his face so he could read it. 

"Maybe I could be an author." He smiled. "I wanna do that! I can write stories about how James and I fight some evil monsters and be heroes." Alex sighed happily. "I like that."

Alex sat up, dog-earing the page and setting the book on the bed. He went into the kitchen and smiled at James, who was stirring noodles in a pot. James looked up. 

"Hey."

"Jemmy, okay, so, I figured out what I want to do when I'm older."

James arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Do tell."

"I wanna go to school and be an author! I can write stories about how we survived the hurricane and went on adventures and fought bad guys!"

James smiled. "That sounds like a fun career. Okay, I know it's not writing stories or anything, but do you want to write a grocery list?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah! Is Peter going to go to the store tomorrow?"  
"Yeah. He told me so."

"Speaking of Peter, where is he?" Alexander asked.

"He just went out for a few. He'll be back in a few minutes."

Alex nodded and went to the room, grabbing his notebook and pencil, then came back and sat at the kitchen table. "Okay, what do we want?"

James sat down next to Alex. "Well, something easy to cook for dinner since Peter is probably going to have to work late."

Alex thought. "Soup?"

James nodded. "Soup."

Alex smiled and wrote it in his notebook.

The two discussed dinner and other snacks for a bit until Peter came back, sitting down and talking it over with them about things they could and couldn't get.

~~~

John sat on the swing, kicking his legs and looking around the park for them. The boys he met yesterday. The talkative, older brother with shorter, but darker hair, and the shy younger brother with long hair. He liked them.

For one, they were pretty. He didn't want to admit that. Two, they were nice to him even when Martha was very rude to the older brother, James.

Besides, John wanted to make some friends. Being in a rich neighborhood, he knew snobby kids and he didn't want to be known like that. He wanted to be more humble than that. And nicer than them.

John smiled brightly when he saw the familiar redheads and waved them over. They came over and sat on the swings next to him.

"Hi! I'm happy to see you again," John said.

Alex smiled a bit and looked at John. "Hi..."

James just waved and began kicking his legs.

"Oh, I didn't ask yesterday, but how old are you?" John asked Alexander, since he hadn't begun to swing yet.

"I'm ten and James is fourteen," he said. Alex couldn't help but feel happy around John. He barely knew him, but he still gave him butterflies in his stomach.

"Oh, really? I'm eleven! We're almost the same age." John smiled. Alex liked his smile.

"That's cool. Um...do you want to be friends? I don't really have any friends other than my brother and I think that would be nice..." Alex trailed off, playing with the hem of his shirt.

John nodded and smiled brightly. "Yeah! I'd like that. I don't really have any friends, either. I don't like the kids in my neighborhood that much."

"Where do you live?" Alex asked, hoping John would say somewhere near the apartment complex.

John pointed to a street. "Down that street, over yonder. So, not too far from the park. That's why we come here so often. You?"

"Oh, um.." Alex pointed in the opposite direction. "Down over there, in that apartment building."

John nodded and smiled. "We're not that far apart from each other," he commented. "Maybe you and James could come over to my house? I have a trampoline."

Alex gasped. "A trampoline? I've never been on a trampoline. James, have you?"

James, who had stopped swinging by now, shook his head. "Nope. Never have."

"You guys are missing out! It's so fun." John smiled. "Do you think you could ask your dad if you could come over? My mama would let you guys come over as long as my papa is at work."

Alex looked at James, who shrugged. "Uh, he's not our dad."

John tilted his head.

"He's our cousin."

"Oh! Okay. Sorry, I should have asked."

"It's okay." James smiled. "I'm sure he'd let us because he has to start work here soon. He said he works late."

John gasped. "Maybe we could have sleepovers!"

Alex nodded quickly. "I wanna do that."

James shrugged, not that enthused about it. “We can ask Peter when he gets back from the market. It might be a while, though.”

“That’s okay! We can continue playing. Oh, and we won’t have to worry about Martha since she is playing with her friend.”

Alex nodded and smiled. “Good, great. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t like her much since she was rude to James.”

“It’s okay,” John said. “I don’t like her much, either. She’s a bit of a jerk, even to her older brother and parents.”

Alex and James nodded.

“Okay, how about we go to the slides, yeah?” John asked, a big smile on his face.

~~~


End file.
